NU 631 Week 12 Assignment 1 Critiquing A Quantitative Research Article Regis
NU 631 Week 12 Assignment 1 Critiquing A Quantitative Research Article Regis
Instructions: This exercise will guide you through the process of critiquing a quantitative research
article. Read the following article:
Lee, W., Wu, P., Lee-M., Ho, L., Shih, W. (2017). Music listening alleviates anxiety and physiological
responses in patients receiving spinal anesthesia. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 21, 8-
13.
After reading, and then re-reading the article, answer the following questions to help you formulate a
critique.
Part 1
Problem Statement/Purpose
1. State the problem directly from the article. The problem stated by the study is to observe the
effect of listening to music and how it relates to levels of anxiety as well as the physiological
responses of surgical patients receiving spinal anesthesia.
2. Does the problem statement clearly identify the independent and dependent variables? Identify
the variables. Yes, the independent variable is the effect of listening to music and the dependent
variable is the anxiety levels and physiological responses.
3. Does it imply empirical testability? Considering that the study has two groups, one is the
experimental group where participants will be undergoing spinal anesthesia and music
interventions, and the other group will only have normal nursing care, the study does imply
empirical testability.
4. Is the population specified within the problem statement? 1) individuals who will be receiving
spinal anesthesia for the first time, 2) they were over 20 years of age with no vision or hearing
impairments, were conscious, literate and able to communicate in Mandarin or Taiwanese, and
had completed and signed the consent forms after being fully informed of the study
5. Is the problem relevant to nursing? I think the answer to this question can receive different
responses depending on which type of nurses are asked this question. However, considering that
just in Taiwan there are over 420,000 patients each year who undergo surgery with aesthesia I
would say yes, this problem is relevant to nursing.
6. State the purpose. The purpose is to determine whether listening to music will influence the
levels of anxiety and the physiological responses of surgical patients who are receiving spinal
anesthesia. This help to determine whether the music is therapeutic.
This paper is a critique of the article authored by Eklund & af Klinteberg (2005) “Personality
CharacteristicsasRiskIndications in Adolescents of AlcoholUse and Violent Behaviorin
Male and Female Adolescents”. Evaluating each section of the article, strengths and
weaknesses will be identified and determined utilising other articles.
Title
The titleiswellconstructed withclearlyunderstoodterms establishingarelationship
with thearticle.Substantialdefinitions of thekeyvariablesinvolved, allows thereaderto
identify thepurpose andexpectations ofthe study(Connell Meehan,1999). Lookingat the
report title, it cannot be seen to fall between the standard 10-15 words, which research reports
are expected to fall between (Parahoo, 2006), in fact, it uses 16. Although, this has no
damning influence onthis reportand is onlyone word over, authorsneed to becautious of
the reasoning behind the recommendations of the title word count. The reasoning behind this
standard title length, is to prevent titles which are too short or long of length which, can cause
confusionand become misleading to the reader. Although. the title is perceived to be too
long, overall, it outlines what will be addressed, presenting an excellent title.
Abstract
Overall the abstract is averagely covered, revealing the general consensus of the overall
study, as it includes; whatthestudyisabout, the sample size, the specific mainvariables
being used,as well as the overall findings beforefinishing with a synopsis of the main
finding. However, to improve according to (Conkin, 2005) the method or design in which the
study was to be conducted, should have been present as well as any further recommendations,
giving the readera bettersynopsis of thereport. Highlightingall sections ofthe report ina
A QUANTITATIVE CRITIQUE ON A JOURNAL ARTICLE IN REFERENCE TO INDIVIDUAL
DIFFERENCES
brief summary is the vital part, asit is where the decision of the reader tocontinue is made
(Parahoo, 2006).
Introduction and Literature Review
Overall this is a well demonstrated and laid out introduction. The authors have
indicated a similar studyhasbeenpreviouslyconducted(NashParker & Auerhahn, 1998),
but havestipulated thegap intheliterature revolvingaround adolescents.Highlighting this
allows the message of why this study needs to be conducted by suggesting to the reader the
problem which needs to be addressed (Bassett, Bassett, & Tanner, 2003). The authors review
is good, as definitions of key words such as adolescents are identified as well as themes from
previous research, allowing the hypothesisefor their own study tobe discovered (Carnwell,
1997). Development of the research question evolves from the literature review (Burns &
Grove, 1997), as well as the identification of the best method to use for data collection. The
authors have successfully used their literature review to do this. Identification of gaps in the
literature specificallyregardingthestudies of adolescentsinterms of personalitytraitsand
substanceabusehas also been achieved, thus,securingtheargumenttorunthestudy. The
literature review goes into depth, and shows sufficient and broad reading has been
undertaken, especially around key authors who have similar research studies (Krueger, 2002).
The authors have identified the interest in individual differences, specific to this study. They
have identified the key personality traits in which they are interested in and wish to
investigate.However, theyhavenotexplicitlyidentifiedthetheorywhichtheyseemtobe
focusing on. Although, for someone with a working knowledge onthe psychological theory
on personality traits they may have an idea, however, for a reader who it is not, there maybe
some confusion. The reason thishas been identified isdue to the natureof how the authors
A QUANTITATIVE CRITIQUE ON A JOURNAL ARTICLE IN REFERENCE TO INDIVIDUAL
DIFFERENCES
have written this. With criminality, and personality traits both being mentioned, readers may
misinterpret whetherthe theoryis afocuson apsychological orcriminological perspective
(Tehrani &Mednick, 2000). As both can beseen by both viewpointsand cross over canbe
extremely close, especially whenboth use Eysenck’s (1982) theory to explaindifferent trait
theories from both a criminological and psychological perspective. Investigating more, theory
of Eysenck’s (1982) work is underlying, especially when the literature specifically focuses on
work from Caspi etal., (1997) who havebased their researchon his theory, it becomes
apparentthePsychoticism,Extraversion, Neuroticism(PEN)modelisthe one in which is
beingfocusedon. Again,the authors could have mentioned whether they are focusing on
PEN or theadaptive model where Tellegan (1991) focused much on Absorption(Church&
Burke, 1994). A subtle mention on the key theorists involved would have been ideal to assist
the reader with the psychological framework and make it effortless in understanding. On the
otherhand,allworkwhichhas been mentionedthroughout the literaturereviewisrecent,
indicating good current research and up to date studies. The review should be a critique of the
literature, with both strengths and limitations being identified, both authors achieve this as the
gap in theliterature, wouldsuggest a limitation,whereas astrength would beregarding the
data which has alreadybeencollatedandthetheoryfor the reasoning behindsuchresults.
Burns and Grove (1997) also support the comparing and contrasting of research with findings
of other studie
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Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
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Important information for writing discussion questions and participation
Welcome to class
Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to
I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.
Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.
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Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.
Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.
I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!
Hi Class,
Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.
Contact me if you have any questions.
Important information on Writing a Discussion Question
Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
Include in-text citations in your response
Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
Follow APA-7th edition
Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor
A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
Follow APA 7th edition
Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
Here are some helpful links
Student paper example
Citing Sources
The Writing Center is a great resource
